Real life ‘Billy Elliot’ Jay lands back on the North East stage

A County Durham-born ballet dancer with a real-life Billy Elliot story has made a successful return to the North East stage.

Carville-born Jay Jobarteh is currently back on home turf as part of the touring cast of the Abba musical Mamma Mia, which is on at the Theatre Royal until the end of the month.

As well as being part of the show’s ensemble, Jay is also covering the role of Eddie and stepped forward to perform it on its opening night in Newcastle.

Jay started to dance at the age of ten after going along to his younger brother’s Tye dance classes and deciding to join in.

He quickly became an under-12 world champion hip hop dancer and was inspired to pursue ballet after reaching the last 32 of more than 10,000 boys who auditioned to be in the West End musical version of Billy Elliott.

He won a place at the renowned performing arts school The Hammond in Chester, with a family fundraising drive led by his mum Louise and grandma Julie helping to cover the cost of attending. 

Support came from a wide variety of other sources, including bursaries from the Durham City Foundation Trust for Talented Individuals and the Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust, while the Banks Family Fund provided a series of annual grants right through Jay’s six years at the Hammond.

He made his West End debut in the musical For Tonight at the Apollo Theatre soon after graduating and has since appeared in a range of theatrical and operatic productions, including the European tour of the musical version of Grease.

He will be continuing with the Mamma Mia touring show as it travels to theatres around the UK through the rest of 2026.

Jay’s grandma Julie Sanyang says: “It’s such an emotional experience seeing him performing on stage and knowing just how hard he’s worked to get there, and we’re so very proud of both his achievements and the humble, dedicated young man that he’s become.

“As an ordinary working class family, we couldn’t have afforded the cost of sending him to The Hammond without the amazing support that we had from people and businesses across our community.

“We’ll be forever grateful to everyone who helped to give Jay the opportunity to follow his dream and to begin to build a career doing the thing he loves most.”